This year belongs to Rihanna. The launch of Fenty Beauty was met with nothing but rave reviews and with four runway shows under her belt, the songstress has shown consistency with another Ready-to-Wear collection debut at New York Fashion Week. Of course “BadGalRiRi” had to make an entrance and she did just that: on the back of motorcycle. Also, the show opened with its own BMX stunt performance; with 360 flips in mid air and death-defying jumps right on the runway-a first for any fashion week show.
The main event took place at the Park Avenue Armory and consisted of models walking along a winding circular runway surrounded by bright pink glitter sand mountains glistening in the background. The high-paced motorcycle opener served a great purpose for the collection; being that Rihanna’s team took the athletic approach this season that we’ve been waiting for. There was a heavy influence of racing and aquatic sportswear at the show, which was present at other FW shows and led stylists to coin the term “athleisure” to represent the trend-a mash between sports and comfortable street appeal.
The line took a futuristic approach that still maintained a nostalgic 90s West Coast feel with nylon sports jackets, baggy track pants, biker shorts, spandex bodysuits and mini dresses all adorned with plastic strap adjusters and snap fasteners (my favorite detail in the collection) all in hues of royal blue, bright orange and pops of hot pink.
Also, swimwear made an appearance for the first time since the brand launched and of course no Fenty x Puma show is complete without the signature platform creepers. Fenty x Puma’s initial shoe broke through with immense success since the first release with the silhouette being replicated across all different retailers. However, this season the creeper was not featured that much other than a neon green version with pull fastener laces. The daring shoe choices did continue with high heeled flip flops, not every practical for the beach but innovative nonetheless. 
This collection contrasted sharply with last fall’s preppy back-to-school theme drawing inspiration from classic movies like Clueless and last spring’s collection that was a modern twist on 18th century fashion that Marie Antoinette would have definitely worn to tea.
The star-studded show included Offset from Migos and Cardi B, Dave East, Big Sean and Whoopi Goldberg. This exemplifies Rihanna’s reach in pop culture: the hottest names in music and Hollywood all came out to support, a Barbadian-born Pop Star’s fourth fashion show with one of the top athletic retailers who had diverse and social media influential models walking in her show all undoubtedly wearing Fenty Beauty. Rihanna is winning.
